Education

SHALLOTTE—Even though the school year has just begun, students in Brunswick County Schools are looking toward graduation.

Gov. Mike Easley proclaimed September 7-13 Graduation Awareness Week, and Brunswick County joined school districts throughout the state in helping students become aware of what it takes to graduate high school.

The Brunswick County School District began the 21st Century Classroom Initiative in 2007 to provide support to teachers in an effort to improve classroom learning through engagement with technology tools and resources.

With the generous funding provided to the school district by county commissioners and the vision of the Brunswick County Board of Education, we now have more than 100 classrooms where teachers are equipped with a laptop computer, projector, document camera and InterWrite interactive pad.

BOLIVIA—Brunswick County Commissioners on Monday approved a school resource officer for Roger Bacon Academy.

The county approved a $70,000 appropriation for the school resource officer, for which the academy would reimburse the county.

The school resource officer would also be trained as a DARE officer. With the approval the academy also agreed to a four-year contract with annual salary and benefit increases established by county administration.

Students in Jane Skubic’s fifth and sixth grade class at The Evelyn Smith Wray Village School are preparing for “Are You Smarter Than a Village Schooler?”

The event will pair students with community figures as they answer questions taken from elementary school grade textbooks. Based on the popular television show, the students will assist the community members in answering questions.

Brunswick Community College has been awarded two grants totaling $222,502 from the North Carolina Community College System BioNetwork.

The money will help the college continue the Aqua-Biotech Initiative, which will provide Brunswick County with a skilled workforce and new business opportunities in the fields of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, biofuels and 21st century aquaculture.

Brunswick County Schools recently received SAT scores for students testing in the 2007-2008 school year.

The SAT assesses critical thinking, mathematical reasoning and writing abilities. The national assessment has been administered for almost 80 years to primarily college-bound seniors. Colleges and universities have used SAT scores in addition to high school transcripts and other student information to serve as a uniform and objective measure for making decisions about students’ abilities and achievements.